Thursday, February 27, 2014

The third week of February was the deadliest of the month.
February 15-21, 2014 saw not only the most reported attacks, but the most
casualties as well. This was due to a combination of on going fighting in
Anbar, increased violence in Babil and Salahaddin, plus continued bombings in
Baghdad. While most of the focus has been on Anbar and the regular explosions
in the capital, the insurgents have been able to pick up their operations in
other provinces as well.

The third week of February was the worst of the month. The
press reported a total of 264 security incidents. That was more than the first
week’s 204 and the second’s 227. February 15-21 averaged out to 37.8 attacks per
day. In total, there have been 696 incidents for an average of 33.1 per day.
Ninewa had the most attacks with 55, followed by 54 in Salahaddin, 52 in
Baghdad, and 48 in Anbar. There were also 16 in Babil and 16 in Tamim, plus 2
in Basra and Maysan each. Unlike the previous two weeks there were more
shootings, 132, than bombings, 116. However there was a big jump in car
bombings going from 9 in February 8-14 to 22 from February 15 to 21. Those
vehicle delivered explosives were the major reason why the third week saw a
jump in casualties as they are used in mass casualty attacks. There were a
total of 347 deaths and 703 wounded for the week. Civilians were the major
victims with 185 killed and 519 injured. That was far more than the previous
two weeks when there were 296 deaths the first week and 255 in the second.
February 18 was the deadliest day of the week when there were 50 attacks
leading to 70 killed and 225 wounded. Most of those occurred in Baghdad, which
saw 11 incidents, 22 dead and 90 wounded. Even on a relatively quite day such as
February 20 when there were only 21 reported incidents, the insurgents were
still able to kill 47 and leave 100 wounded. In total there have been 898
fatalities for the month so far along with 1,904 injured.

Reported Violence In
Iraq Feb. 1-21, 2014

Attacks

Deaths

Wounded

2/1/14

36

35

94

2/2/14

28

28

28

2/3/14

32

54

116

2/4/14

21

20

77

2/5/14

34

89

169

2/6/14

35

50

162

2/7/14

18

20

54

Sub-Total

204

296

700

2/8/14

36

36

70

2/9/14

36

36

56

2/10/14

33

41

96

2/11/14

31

28

93

2/12/14

35

36

71

2/13/14

36

45

76

2/14/14

20

33

39

Sub-Total

227

255

501

2/15/14

40

43

44

2/16/14

50

59

70

2/17/14

40

55

108

2/18/14

49

70

225

2/19/14

44

59

125

2/20/14

21

47

100

2/21/14

20

14

31

Sub-Total

264

347

703

Total

695

898

1,904

Ninewa saw the most incidents of the week. There were 55 in
the 3rd week compared to 36 in the second and 41 in the first. That
resulted in 49 deaths and 72 wounded. The security forces were the main targets
suffering 31 killed and 42 wounded. As usual, most of the attacks there were
small, targeted ones meant to intimidate those in the Mosul area. On February
15 for example, a professor
at Tikrit University was gunned down in Jadeeda, while three
Federal Police were shot and beheaded in Shura. At the same time there was
an assault upon the town of Hadhar when a suicide
truck bomb was used against a bridge leaving 10 casualties, followed by the
bombing of the local police
station and the municipal
council building. There were a total of 33 shootings and 13 improvised
explosive devices (IEDs) with 30 attacks in Mosul, followed by 4 in Hadhar and
Shura each, plus 3 in Tal Afar during the week.

Reported Violence In
Ninewa, Feb. 15-21, 2014

Date

Attacks

Killed

Wounded

2/15/14

9

12

10

2/16/14

11

5

13

2/17/14

8

11

18

2/18/14

10

10

11

2/19/14

10

8

13

2/20/14

6

3

5

2/21/14

1

0

2

Totals

55

49

72

Salahaddin has been one of the main provinces where
insurgents have increased their activity since the fighting started in Anbar. There
were 54 reported security incidents there for the week leading to 84 deaths and
135 wounded. Those were the highest amounts for the month so far. Much of that
was due to the attempt to take over the town of Sulaiman Bek by insurgents,
which is in the northern section of the governorate. The shooting started on February 16, which left 11 police dead.
The next day the security forces claimed they retook
the town, but they were in fact quickly beaten back. February 18 the
police station was hit by rockets leaving 2 police fatalities and 11 injured, February
19 the provincial police chief went to check on the situation and was hit by
an IED killing three of his bodyguards, while the police station was hit
again, this time with mortars
that caused 5 police deaths and 13 wounded, plus there was gunfire
with the militants resulting in 2 soldiers dying and six wounded. It seemed
like the town was pacified, but there was another shoot out on February
21. In total there were 26 shootings, 20 IEDs, 4 car bombs and a sticky
bomb during the week with 14 attacks in Shirqat, 11 in Tikrit, 7 in Sulaiman
Bek, and four in Samarra.

Reported Violence In
Salahaddin, Feb. 15-21, 2014

Date

Attacks

Killed

Wounded

2/15/14

11

16

5

2/16/14

10

23

14

2/17/14

8

4

11

2/18/14

3

6

31

2/19/14

11

24

62

2/20/14

6

6

7

2/21/14

5

5

5

Totals

54

84

135

Baghdad saw its usual level of violence for the third week
of February. There were 52 attacks, 79 killed, and 217 wounded. As usual, car
bombs were the major cause of casualties. February 17 saw three. One went off
near a hospital in Ur
resulting in 10 fatalities and 23 wounded, the second was in Karrada with 9
deaths and 24 wounded, and the third was in Ghazilia near some shops that
killed 4 and injured a further 11. February 18 there were four car bombs in Baya,
Shurta
Rabia, Karrada,
and Amil
leaving 17 dead and 83 wounded. Along with those car bombings there were 16
IEDs, 8 sticky bombs, and 19 shootings. In Baghdad the Islamic State of Iraq
and the Levant (ISIS) is attempting to re-start the sectarian war by striking
both Shiite and Sunni areas in the hopes that the two will blame each other for
the carnage.

Reported Violence In
Baghdad, Feb. 15-21, 2014

Date

Attacks

Killed

Wounded

2/15/14

6

2

16

2/16/14

9

9

7

2/17/14

10

28

70

2/18/14

11

22

90

2/19/14

10

12

24

2/20/14

2

2

7

2/21/14

4

4

3

Totals

52

79

217

Fighting continued in Anbar. There were 48 incidents with 54
killed and 89 wounded. The actual numbers are likely much higher since there
are daily clashes going on in the province, not all of which get reported in the
press. This has been going on in the same neighborhoods of Ramadi and Fallujah
since the conflict started in December, plus insurgents have been able to
spread out into the surrounding towns. Government shelling and mortar fire is
also leading to many casualties. February
15 for instance, government artillery fire on Fallujah left 3 dead and 4
wounded. Finally, there has been an increase in the use of suicide bombers.
There were five for the week including one on an army
base in Ramadi, one on a checkpoint at Warrar
Bridge north of Ramadi, one on Albu
Bali, one on Sheikh Abu Risha’s compound
north of Ramadi, and the last one a bridge in Khalidiya.
In total those left 13 dead and 36 wounded. Ramadi with 19 incidents and
Fallujah with 11 remained the main areas of conflict in the province.

Reported Violence In
Anbar, Feb. 15-21, 2014

Date

Attacks

Killed

Wounded

2/15/14

8

3

4

2/16/14

10

8

20

2/17/14

6

3

6

2/18/14

6

16

16

2/19/14

7

10

10

2/20/14

4

11

16

2/21/14

7

3

17

Totals

48

54

89

Babil has been the other province where violence has
recently picked up. There were just 17 attacks there for the week, but that
left 55 dead and 137 wounded. Last week there were set battles between ISIS and
the security forces in Jurf al-Sakhr. That town again saw the most attacks, but
they were much smaller than last week. February 15 there were 2
roadside bombs on the security forces and mortar fire in the town. February 16
there was another mortar barrage. February
18 a border police commander was assassinated there in a drive-by shooting,
and February
19 a checkpoint was attacked. The deadliest incident was mortar
fire on a market in Musayib
that left 23 dead and 59 wounded on February 20. There were also seven car
bombs all on February 18 in Hillah, Musayib, Iskandiriya,
and Mahawil
that caused 15 fatalities and 66 injured. This was a big change for the governorate
that had been relatively quite in January and the first week of February. Now
ISIS appears to be making it a main battlefield in the country.

Reported Violence In
Babil, Feb. 15-21, 2014

Date

Attacks

Killed

Wounded

2/15/14

3

10

8

2/16/14

3

3

4

2/17/14

2

3

0

2/18/14

5

16

66

2/19/14

1

0

0

2/20/14

2

23

59

2/21/14

0

0

0

Totals

17

55

137

Tamim and Diyala have only seen low-level violence for the
last several weeks. From February 15-21 there were 19 attacks in Diyala with 13
killed and 27 wounded, while there were 16 incidents in Tamim, 11 deaths, and
26 injured. Most of the attacks in both provinces were small such as attacks
upon checkpoints and IEDs on the security forces and Sons of Iraq.

Reported Violence In
Diyala, Feb. 15-21, 2014

Date

Attacks

Killed

Wounded

2/15/14

0

0

0

2/16/14

3

3

4

2/17/14

2

3

3

2/18/14

9

0

4

2/19/14

3

4

7

2/20/14

1

2

6

2/21/14

1

1

3

Totals

19

13

27

Reported Violence In
Tamim, Feb. 15-21, 2014

Date

Attacks

Killed

Wounded

2/15/14

2

0

1

2/16/14

3

8

8

2/17/14

3

2

0

2/18/14

5

0

7

2/19/14

2

1

9

2/20/14

0

0

0

2/21/14

1

0

1

Totals

16

11

26

Finally, there was sporadic violence in the south. Basra saw
a shooting
and grenades
thrown at four houses. While Maysan witnessed two drive by shootings on February
17 and 21,
which resulted in one death each. Unless ISIS launches a car bombing southern
Iraq is largely untouched by the violence. The incidents in Basra and Maysan
could have been the work of anyone from insurgents to gangs to militias to
personal disputes.

Iraq today is much like 2004. That was when the insurgency
first took off. They are repeating that now with the set battles in Anbar,
Babil, and Salahaddin. That showed that the militants are moving from terrorist
attacks to attempting to take and hold ground. That all adds up to a very
bloody year ahead.

SOURCES

This report is based upon almost 1,000 articles from the
Western and Iraqi press. For the sake of space only those reports that were
directly cited in the piece were listed as sources.

IRAQ HISTORY TIMELINE

TWITTER

About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com